Full Text

1. In my deepest dream I hear
A distant trumpet call,
Get up and see, come unto Me:
I sight a golden wall—
Behold, Jerusalem!
With angels round the throne,
And emerald rainbow all aglow,
Above a crystal sea.

2. I see the ransomed saints,
A multitude untold,
So glorious bright, with crowns of light,
The victor’s palm they hold;
I hear eternal choirs,
Singing praise unto the Lamb,
Salvation power burst into flower,
And overcomes the night.

3. Proceeding from the throne,
Flows a crystal river pure,
It life bestows where’er it goes,
And every ill will cure;
Along the water’s edge,
Are trees of fadeless bloom,
No more we grieve, for their healing leaves,
God’s love and blessing show.

4. I walk the golden streets,
Where no tempter can ensnare,
No darkness here, no more guilt or fear,
No shadow anywhere;
For nothing base or false
Can live within these walls:
No secret sin can hide within,
No evil interfere.

5. Too soon the morning comes,
And the veil obscures my sight,
But now I see what my goal must be,
That heavenly city bright—
The walls whose cornerstone
Is Jesus Christ our Lord,
By faith in Him, the prize we win:
God’s love eternally.

Text Information

"This hymn was literally born in a dream. I was recovering from a bad cold and laryngitis, and after finishing a telephone conversation with my daughter Sarah in Washington, DC, I lay down for a Saturday afternoon nap. As I was drifting off, the words For nothing base or false can live within these walls came to me. I thought that was unusual, as I had not been contemplating writing lyrics. Taking it as a sign that God might have something for me, I got up, went to my desk, and felt my sleepiness melt away as I wrote down the rest of the words."

Tune

TERRA BEATA was originally a traditional English folk tune, a variant of which, entitled RUSPER, appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906. Franklin L. Sheppard (b. Philadelphia, PA, 1852; d. Germantown, PA, 1930) arranged the tune for Babcock's text and published it in the Presbyterian church school h…